Shock-absorber.



H. DIXON.

SHOCK ABSORBER. APPLlCATION HLED APR.9. 1915.

H. DIXON. SHOCK ABSORBER. APPLICATION HLED APR.9. m5.

Patented July .4, 1916.

2 SHE ETS-SHEET 2- 80 same degree of elasticity may be maintained HENRY DIXON, OF TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA.

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- & Application filed April 9, 1915. -SerialNo. 26,199.

the length of which is substantially the To alt whom. it may co nc' em Be it known that I,,HEN RY Dixon, a British subject, residing at thecity of Toronto,

v vergence of the springs,

in' the county of York, in the Province of Ontario, Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and usefulw'lmprovements in Shock-Absorbers; and I hereby declare that the following-is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

This invention relates to a shock absorber which will combine in its functions those of the ordinary vehicle spring and shock retarder, the object of the invention being to so arran e the parts that they will ofier a controlla lo and variable resistance when moving, as a result of concussion or excess load; this object being attained by the employment of a set of obliquely arranged set of springs contained in cylindrical casings arranged as atoggle, or toggles, so converging as to exert a normal lifting force upon the load, the cylindrical casings and the springs in the case of an excess load or as a result straight line, or approximately so, to increase the normal tension and angle of conwhereby their direct pressure upon the load will decrease in the same ratio as the increase of tension resulting from the compression, so that the between the extremities of the movement, and the sudden bound'and rebound of the load may be prevented.

In the drawings :Figure 1, is an eleva-. tion, partly in section, of the shock absorber, showing the relation of the various parts in their normal position; and, Fig. 2., 1s a perspehtive view showing the position of the parts when compressed; and Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the air cylinder. 1

Like characters of reference refer to like parts throughout the specification and drawmgs.

The shock absorber consists essentially of j an air cylinder at; two horizontal spring cylcylinder a' and in close proximity I ton d having a inders b, located on opposite sides "of the air thereto; and four inclined spring cylinders c, c, c and 0 respectively, arranged as hereinafter described.

The air cylinder (1 is provided with a pisball valve 0 by which air can pass from one side of the piston to the other during its movement within the air cylinder at. The piston is provided with a piston rod Specification of Letters Patent.-

of concussion being brought into a Patented July 4, 1916.

f; same as the length of the air cylinder a. Connected to the outer end of the piston rod f is a 'crown .yoke g, and connected to the outer end of the air cylinder a is a base yoke 7b. Connected to one end of the horizontal cylinders 79 is a sideyoke i, and Within each. v

of the horizontal cylinders 'b 'is a plunger rod y' having at its inner end awasher l0. Coiled. around the plunger rods 1' between thewashers la and the cylinder heads 1 are springs m compressed by the outward move- .ment of the plunger rods. The plunger extend beyond the cylinder heads 1 rods 55 and through the side yoke o and their outer ends are threaded to receive the tensioning nuts 10 provided with cranks p for adjustment upon the plunger rods. By screwing 0 and 0 is a cylindrical member 9', g, 9""

and g respectively, and bearing against the ends of these cylinders and cylindrical members are springs 1'. The cylindrical member g is pivoted to theside-yokei and the cylinder 0 is pivoted to the crown yoke g. The cylinder 0 is pivoted to the crown yoke g and the cylindrical member g is pivoted to the side yoke o. The cylinder 0 is pivoted to the side yoke 71 and the cylindrical memher is pivoted to the base yoke h. The

cylinder 0 is pivoted to the side yoke 0 and y i the cylindrical member 9 is pivoted to the baseyokeh. 1 v

The normal positionof the parts is that shown in Fig. 1, in which the cylinders c, c with the springs contained therein converge toward the crown yoke g and the cylindrical members g", 9 with the springs contained therein, converge toward the base yoke h to form acute angles. In this position, the springs and cylinders, while obliquely arranged, approximate most nearly to the perpendicular and the springs are thenin their expanded condition; the tension of; the

springs being such as to support the normal load upon them. When sabjected to excess load or concussion, the spring cylinders and cylindrical members straighten out in the manner of a toggle and exert relatively great endwise pressure on the various yokee which is utilized to compress the springs an iio 20 force.

increase their natural force in the ratio of their compression, but as the toggles formed by these cylinders straighten out, the direct pressure of the springs upon the load de- 5 creases in substantially the same ratio as their force increases, thus maintaining a uj niform lifting force lipon the load durlng the movement of the spring cylinders between the extremities of their difierent positions; the movement of the spring cylinders c, of, c

the spring cylinders c,"c, c and 0 into a straight line is gradually retarded with an increasing resistance, and, reversely, the return of the spring cylinders to a. normal position is eflected by a gradually diminishing Thus it is possible to eliminate the sudden bound and rebound of the vehicle body during the fiection of the springs resulting from concussion.

The yoke o is loose on the plunger rods j so that these plunger rods can move freely through itfor the adjustment of the nuts 3) when increa ng or decreasing the tension of the springs m in the horizontal. cylinders b the purpose of this adios-fitment being to 80* regulate the tension of the springs to the approximateload which the" vehicle is in tended to can;

- The base yo e h is fixed to the air cylinder a; the crown yoke g is fixed to the piston rod f; the side yoke 2' is fixed to the horizontal cylinders b, at the opposite end to the movable yoke 0. During the movement of the piston rod 1, the cylinders o, 0 press out wardly in the direction of the side yokcs 2' 40 and 0, and the cylinders c" and c press inwaidly in the direction. of the base yoke it, sliding, over their respective cylindrical members 9, q and g as the piston rod recedes Within theiair cylinder 6, so that the straightening movement of the spring cylinders will not in any way operate to change the path of the piston and piston rods during their inward movement; and, reversely, the spring cylinders, as they return to their normal positions, slidh outwardly on their respective cylindrical members.

It'is estimated that, in the construction shown in the drawings, a compression of one and one eighth'inches of the springs T will 5 cause a compression oi? two and one quarter inches of the springs m and effect an inward -movement of seven inches of the piston rod 7, thus allowing, a suilicient fiection of the device for the normal movements of the vehicle.

What I claim is p 1. A shock absorber comprising a set of obliquely arranged springs converging to exert a normal lifting force upon the load, and means for increasingtheir tension, comprising a retarding spring with which the diverging ends of the lifting springs are connected, causing their inward and resist .ing their. outward movement, whereby the direct pressure of the lifting springs upon the load decreases in substantially the same ratio as the force resulting from their in crease of tension. I

2. {a shock absorbercomprising a set of obliquely arranged springs convergingto exert a normal lilting force upon the load, and a retarding spring, with which the di verging ends of the lifting springs areslidably connected causing their inward and. resisting their outward movenient,'whereby the direct pressure of the lifting springs upon the load decreases in the same ratio as their increase of tension.

3. A shock absorber comprising a set of obliquelyarranged springs converging to exert a normal lilting force upon the load, means for increasing their tension, comprising a retarding spring with which the diverging ends of the lifting springs are connected, causing their inward and resisting their outward movement, whereby the direct pressure of the lifting springs upon the load decreases in substantially the same ratio as the force resulting from their in crease of tension, and means for varyingthe tension. of the retarding spring.

4. Ashock absorber comprising a set of obliquely-arranged springs converging to exert anormal lifting force upon the load, a retarding spring, with which the diverging ends ofthe lifting springs are slidably connected, causing their inward and resisting their outward movement, whereby the direct pressure of the lifting springs upon the load decreases in substantiallythe same ratio as their increase of tension, and means nected to one end of the cylindrical casing, and the other obliquely arranged cylinder being slidably connected with the retarding spring within said cylindrical casing.

6. A shock absorber comprising an alcylinder having a valve controlled pistoil' therein with a piston rod. extending through one end of the aircylinde i, a pair of horizontally arranged cylindei e located one on either side of the air' cylinder, retarding springs contained within: said horizontal cylinders, plunger rods within said horizontal cylinders for compressing the retarding springs, said plunger rods extending beyond the horizontal cylinders, obliquely arranged spring-containing casings pivotaliy connected at their converging ends with the piston rod of the air cylinder, oneof said obliquely arranged springs beingpivotally connected at the other end with the plunger rods of the horizontal cylinders and the other of cylinderhaving a'valve controlled piston therein, and a piston rod extending beyond one end of the air cylinder, ayoke fixed to the opposite end of the air cylinder, and

a yoke fixed to the outer end of the piston rod, in combination with a pair of cylindrical casings, located. one on either side of the air cylinder, a yoke fixedly connected to one end of the horizontal cylinders, re-

tarding springs within said horizontal cylinclers, plunger rods for compressing the retarding springs, said plunger rods extend- .ing beyond the horizontal cylinders, a yoke loosely mounted upon said plungers, tensioningmeans for the retarding springs it the obliquely arranged springs being connected to the horizontal cylinders. 7. A shock absorber comprising an air mounted upon said plungers and engaging the yoke thereon, cylindrical casings consisting of slidable members pivotally coni nected to said yokes and springs contained within said. cylindrical casings.

Toronto, February 15th, 1915.

, HENRY DlXON.

Witnesses: I

STANLEY RICHES, N. C. Ungomm'r. 

